7 New Ways to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day

You've donned your best kelly green, decorated your home with shamrocks, and clinked glasses to another St. Paddy's Day with family and friends. But this year? You're feeling a wee bit bored with the same old traditions. Try adding a twist with these ideas.

1. Bake a St. Paddy's Day Pie

Corned beef and cabbage is a given. But dessert? That's trickier. Instead of the trendy boozy cupcakes or the more traditional soda bread, why not try an unexpectedly festive treat? A custard pie, like cinnamon or sweet potato, is both seasonal and when it's topped with a hand-woven Celtic knot (believe us when we say it's easier than it looks), it's a complete showstopper.

2. Grow Your Own Luck

And by that, we mean grow your own shamrocks! With spring on the way, nothing could be more satisfying than putting your green thumb to good use. Other festive greenery? Try oxalis: its three-leaved blooms are almost identical to clover and it makes an easy-to-grow houseplant. And lastly, you can also arrange a bouquet of green carnations and hypericum into the shape of a big blooming shamrock for a creative centerpiece.

4. Pack a "BYOG" Picnic

"Bring your own greens," that is. In this themed potluck, each party guest brings their own vegetable to swap and share. Here is the only requirement: They have to be gorgeously emerald green. Think: lightly blanched asparagus, cauliflower, cucumber slices, and snap peas. They pile them high on a crudite platter; you provide the green goddess dip.

5. Spread Some Lucky Charms

Host a St. Paddy's Day charm swap! It's a similar idea to a Secret Santa gift exchange, in which names are drawn and you are assigned to be the secret gifter of a chosen friend or family member. You don't have to spend a fortune -- a few themed trinkets will do. These surprise balls -- wrapped in colorful crepe paper -– unravel to reveal a treasure trove of teeny-tiny trinkets. Think: a golden horseshoe for mom, a four-leafed clover charm for a sister, or a fortune-teller fish toy for a niece or nephew.

6. Set up a Pot o' Gold Scavenger Hunt

Start at the "top o' the mornin'" and leave a trail of clues for your little leprecauns to follow (either your kids or a group of friends). Each clue (taped to the back of gilded rock clusters) offers in the form of a sing-song rhyme. Eventually, they'll be led to the pot o' gold — a surprise St. Patrick's Day party!